SQUID is a great little mnemonic acronym for helping remember how to "Think Before You Ink" and interrupt our impulsive reactions before they do damage. The letters can stand for lots of words but one of the simplest sets is Stop - Question - Understand - Imagine - Decide. You can experiment with using it as a step-by-step process when you want to help someone learn how to stop before they make a choice mindlessly.

From time to time, each of us needs a way to interrupt our impulsive autopilot mind when it is working against our long term goals. When you notice you or someone you care about is starting to get stressed, you can experiment with using the SQUID technique to help slow down the impulsive autopilot mind and regain the ability to consider options before making choices. Try to “Think Before You Ink.”

Steps

1

Stop. As soon as you notice signs of distressed reactions or impulsivity that could do more harm than good, try to create a “Stop Point” for considering choices before making any more decisions. Signs of distress can be felt, seen or heard, and frequently trigger fast automatic reactions that we might regret. If you can notice the signs of distress when they first start to appear, you can slow down for the yellow lights before you run the red. You have to act fast to interrupt so it helps to be very clear what signs to watch for. Do you struggle with emotions getting out of control? What triggers you? What signals can you watch for to remind yourself to be careful about your upcoming choices?

Question. By asking yourself questions, any questions, you actually help reengage your prefrontal cortex and have a chance to interrupt your autopilot reactions. Different questions might be good for different situations but one of the most basic is “Do I need to think about what I'm about to do or say?"

3

Understand. By taking even a moment to look at the bigger picture of what is going on, you can make a better decision about what to do next. Remember to look for more than one perspective about what is going on and why. To improve your understanding, ask yourself more questions. If you have time, look for other perspectives, talk to someone or try searching online.

Examples: "Why do I feel like something is wrong?” "Why does this bother me?" “Am I overreacting?” “Have I had enough sleep, food, water?” “What’s going on for the other people involved?” “What are my options?” What can I do about it that would be helpful rather than hurtful?

4

Imagine. Imagining the likely consequences of your actions is one of the best ways to improve your decisions about what to do. First, imagine what is likely to happen next if you go with your autopilot. Then try to imagine at least two other options and the likely consequences of those. If you are emotionally overwhelmed, this can be hard to do. One of the simplest choices you can look at is one of the most primal: fight, flight or freeze. If you are upset and feel like fighting back or shutting down and just taking it, flight can be one of the best choices. Usually you can excuse yourself to go to the bathroom for a few moments of privacy to allow you calm yourself and consider your options more carefully.

5

Decide. After taking even a few moments to go through these steps, you can now make a decision that was at least considered a little bit more than if you had remained on autopilot and never considered your choices. Even if you do what you were going to do on autopilot, you still practiced questioning yourself before you did it. The habit of questioning yourself more frequently gives you many more opportunities to make better choices.